After the Fall
Struggling for emotional balance after September 11
"I'm feeling more connected to God," says Cummins. Until the 11th, she says, her Scripture reading "was something I was just doing in church. Now I'm reading it on the Metro" and posting passages on her bulletin board at work. Such personal and spiritual growth helps many people find a way through anxiety and beyond depression and to rearrange priorities. "When life is threatened, people look at what is important," says Lerner. For many, this has meant doing volunteer work, adopting pets, and reaching out in other ways to their community and the future.
The community, many find, is eager to reach back. When Robinson, her husband, John Hambor, and his children, Matt, 13, and Liz, 10, took Briana to temple recently, strangers flocked to see her. "People really rallied around new life," says Robinson. "Even when she squealed in the middle of services, nobody seemed to mind."
Stress signs
BY THE NUMBERS
National reactions, in a survey, to September 11:
Upset when reminded about the attack 30 percent
Disturbing dreams, thoughts, or memories 16 percent
Difficulty concentrating 14 percent
Insomnia 11 percent
Felt angry or had outbursts 9 percent
Source: Rand survey, New England Journal of Medicine, Nov. 15, 2001
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